Ibrahim Ali: Perkasa Will Back Pro-GST Mega Rally Malaysiakini.Com May 3, 2014

Ibrahim Ali: Perkasa will back pro-GST mega rally MalaysiaKini.com May 3, 2014

The civil service body and other chambers of commerce should organise a mega rally in support of the planned Goods and Services Tax (GST) to counter the May Day rally, said Perkasa.

Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali today said Perkasa suggests the Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) "hold a mega rally to explain and support the implementation of GST".

He said Perkasa was prepared to give its support to such an endeavour "for the good of the people and the country".

He was responding to Cuepacs president Azih Muda saying on May 1 that civil servants who plan to partake in the massive protest in Kuala Lumpur that day are "traitors".

Yesterday chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa added that civil servants found attending the rally, that saw at least 50,000 converge at Dataran Merdeka to protest GST will face stern action, including termination.

Ibrahim claimed the protest was aimed at "confusing" the public about the tax slated to begin next April.

Prime Minister Najib Razak announced plans to unroll a six percent GST next year to tackle the government's burgeoning national debt.

The tax is expected to rope in an extra RM3 billion for the government, but critics say the BN administration has been wasteful and should tackle it's poor financial management before taxing the people.

A Merdeka Centre poll released yesterday showed that only 30 percent of its respondents agreed with the tax, that many say will fuel further inflation to that seen since the slashing of subsidies last year.

'Rally just to diss government'

Ibrahim continued to slam the massive rally as merely an opposition platform to criticise the government.

"Those in attendance were 95 percent Malay and likely all PAS members who don't know anything," he said dismissively, adding they were "trained" to just protest anything.

"It's just political emotions," he said, citing how PKR used it as a platform to rally support fo its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, and DAP as a chance to get "cheers" from "thousands of Malays".

"And the Chinese weren't even 5 percent at the rally. Shameful," he said.

Ibrahim, the former PAS Pasir Mas MP before he quit to be an independent and lost his seat in the last general election, further called Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, a hypocrite.

"If he was still in Umno and a finance minister, for certain he would be supporting GST heatedly," he said.

Anwar, he added, had sung praises for former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad then, and supported the Internal Security Act, but now says Mahathir is "the most evil".